SERBIA - National review, No 94

Prologue

GALLERY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS 

 

Introduction
Measure and Proportion

Vitrage
NUMBERS, EVENTS, INTERESTING THINGS

Album
SERBIA, GEOPOETIC ALBUM, CHOCOLATE EDITION
A Thousand Reasons

Notebook
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF A BIRDWATCHER FROM ZEMUN
Birds Make Us Better
People who study, photograph and understand birds seem to have an unspoken brotherhood of their own, above profession, guild or personal enthusiasm. They have their own language, signals, principles of solidarity and alliance. Some mental, geographical and symbolic maps of their own. They read their environment and the person in it with much more warmth and depth. They know that 365 species of birds have been recorded in Serbia so far, that they have names, characteristics, species history, and the right to life. (...) This is a personal testimony of how a famous Belgrade archaeologist entered that world and stayed in it

Text and Photo: Josip Šarić

Guide
AROUND THE SOUTHERN BANAT, FOLLOWING THE FOOTPRINTS OF AN IMPORTANT BOOK
The Flavors of Peščara
After Đerdap, Old Mountain, Zlatibor, these flavors have also arrived: the flavors of Deliblatska peščara. Another chapter in the research of Serbia’s intangible and gastronomic heritage. Dejan Zagorac is the author behind the venture, and the Institute for the Study of Cultural Development from Belgrade is the publisher. Motivated by this book, we once again started exploring Peščara and the story about it. At the end, of course, we checked the flavors of the rich home-made cuisine

By: Gordana Simeunović
Photo: Dragica Đuran, Gordana Simeunović, Archives of NR

Around the Town
ZEMUN AND ITS MOST FAMOUS CHRONICLE-WRITER, IN NUMEROUS CERTAIN KAFANA VERSIONS
A City within a City
Branko Najhold (1947–2016), chronicle writer and essayist from Zemun, founder of the International Caricature Salon in Zemun, wrote as many as 48 books about his hometown. From prehistoric times and Rome, the Middle Ages to the very day. Through fortresses, ports, the Tower, kafanas, churches, galleries and concert halls, green market and sports clubs, through postcards and caricatures, stories and chronicles, legends of emperors and fishermen. The spirit of that Zemun is still living in some kafanas and studios, as well as on these pages. And bronze Branko is sailing down the river every day from his bench on the Quay into eternity, and comes back again the following day, to Branko’s Zemun

By: Miloš Lazić

Mirror
JOSIF RUNЈANIN (1821–1878) AND OUR TIME
In the Whirlpools of Others
Nazor is classifying him into Croatian and Yugoslav molds. And he was born, lived and died as an Orthodox Serb. His family, of soldiers and a priests, originated from Runjani, in Jadar. In the turbulent 18th century, they moved to Semberija, then to Srem and Slavonia. As an Austrian officer, with the foundations of musical education and talent, Josif Runjanin composed many songs to verses known at the time. Two have been preserved. Today, one of them is the Croatian national anthem ”Our Beautiful Homeland”. Last year, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth, his tomb was restored and a memorial service was held at the Uspensko Cemetery in Novi Sad

By: Đorđe M. Srbulović

Homelands
MIODRAG B. PROTIĆ (1922–2014), ARTIST PERMANENTLY TIED TO HIS NATIVE VRNЈAČKA BANЈA
Two-Way Refinement
Born there exactly one hundred years ago, he always returned to Banja. Some say he never left. He wrote important memories about it in his ”Noah’s Ark”. Organized a round table in it to save Moravian cities from overdevelopment. He was one of the initiators of buying Villa ”Belimarković” and turning it into the ”Castle of Culture”. Participated in the founding of ”Vrnjačka Autumn” and the bringing of Ernst Neizvestny, wrote forewords for books and catalogs, opened exhibitions. He was the president of the Association of Friends of Vrnjačka Banja (1971–1983). He presented his artistic work here in 1983 and 2003, and his journalistic work in 1993, 1997, 2009.

By: Jelena Borović Dimić

Eye
PORTRAITS AND SELF-PORTRAITS IN THE ”BOGDANOVIĆ” COLLECTION IN SREMSKA MITROVICA
Man and His Image
Since ancient Assyria and Egypt, this form of artistic expression passed through various stages, but it was always necessary to reach much further than mere external resemblance with the presented figure. Underlining the psychology of the painted or sculpted personality. Being aware that this might mean entering a mysterious field, full of magical features. This art genre has a long and rich tradition among Serbs as well. The collection of portraits in Nikola Bogdanović’s collection, one of the most important in Vojvodina, shows it in a unique way, through the prism of high modernism

By: Dejan Đorić

Lyre
KRSTIVOJE ILIĆ (1938–2022) AND HIS ELEGY ABOUT THE WORLD, FROM TOPS TO THE BOTTOM
Praises and Ascensions
This Orpheus of Cer-Tamnava and Mačva, elegist of the suburbs and casemates, palaces and churches, lyrical chronicle writer of ”God’s people” and muses from brothels, poet of swans above Vila-Leska and royal epitaphs, spent his life singing only to poetry. Poems were a festivity and justification, whip and compassion, perhaps even the only acceptable way to stay there. Thus Krstivoje, boy and puzzler, football player and boxer, great poet, carried his cross to the ultimate point, after which only silence roars

By: Dragan Lakićević

Old School
BORA MILUTINOVIĆ, INTERCONTINENTAL FOOTBALL LEGEND
Raftsman from the Drina
The famous house on the rock in the middle of the river near Bajina Bašta is his cabin. That is where he always returns, for decades now. He is considered a historical person in China, he was awarded with the ”Aztec Sparrowhawk” order in Mexico and with ”Karađorđe’s Star” in Serbia. While his plane circled low over Costa Rica, people welcomed him by sending reflections of the Sun with mirrors. (…) Even now, in faraway lands, he is happy when he dreams about his Tara and the raft floating down the cascades. He is honorable citizen of Bajina Bašta. The local sports center is called ”The Milutinović Brothers” and the stadium after his famous brother ”Miloš Milutinović”

By: Svetlana Miljanić

Examples
ASSOCIATION ”LIVING TOGETHER” AND ITS NOBLE ACHIEVEMENTS
A Quarter of a Century of Aid
They realized that there is an energy that brings together children with developmental disabilities, as well as a field of support based on expertise, but with a lot of heart and vitality. They realized that both children and parents need support. They sought systemic social adjustments for developmentally disabled children, gathered a large number of families and experts. They approached creatively, according to specific personalities and needs. Many were trained to live and work independently, some were employed, some were encouraged to act, sing, play sports. As experiences accumulate, so do new plans

By: Aleksa Komet

Nature
PROTECTED HABITAT ”TRSKOVAČA”, NEAR PLATIČEVAO, IN SREM
Core of the Marshland
After a major disturbance in the 1970s, in an ill-advised attempt to turn the area into arable land, at the beginning of the 21st century, revival and protection were initiated. Since 2011, this area has been managed by the Tourist Organization of the Municipality of Ruma. From 2022, after several years of stagnation, investments continued

Text and Photo: Tourist organization of Ruma

Connections
REPRESENTATIVES OF IRANIAN HEALTH CENTERS VISIT ”MERKUR” AND VRNЈAČKA BANJA
Knowledge and Business
The guests were introduced to the concept of work and the organization of medical services in ”Merkur”, with business models, with the potential for cooperation between the spas of Serbia and the tourist industry of Iran. Both sides were very satisfied with this meeting